Comfort food comes into its element in January, especially when there’s snow on the ground outside! We are using up the chestnuts that didn’t get eaten at Christmas in this bake, alongside some other nutrient rich and tasty seasonal Winter veg. Feel free to substitute any Winter veg into this recipe – celeriac, swede, butternut squash…! Cosy up by the fire with your favourite socks on and enjoy this warming goodness.1 large onion
200 g parsnips
200 g carrots
3 sticks celery
1 red pepper
2 leeks
3 cloves garlic
400 g tin borlotto beans
1 kg potatoes
200 g cooked chestnuts
1 sprig of Rosemary
1 sprig of thyme
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tblspoon tomato purée
250 g cherry tomatoes
1. Preheat the oven to 190°c. Chop the onion, leeks, parsnip, pepper, carrots, celery into small to medium chunks. Put all the veg together on one large tray with a little boiled water, some Olive oil and salt and pepper, in the oven and cook for 20 minutes, adding the chopped garlic for the last 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes until well cooked. Drain, conserving the cooking liquid. Mash well with a good glug of olive oil and seasoning to taste.
3. In a large bowl, combine the cooked veg, borlotto beans, chestnuts, herbs, tomatoes, cayenne pepper and tomato purée. Add enough of the cooking liquid from the potatoes or water to make it have a sauce. Make sure it isn’t swimming, but won’t dry out. Season well.
4. Put the veg mix into a large oven proof dish and top with the mashed potato, fork up the top and drizzle with a little olive oil. Bake in the oven for 20 – 30 minutes until the potato is crisp and golden.